Restaurant Tani in Gaienmae (Tokyo)
Tasted Tuesday, October 28, 2014 by StefanAkiko with 356 views
Spanish theme #2.
And chef's OMAKASE (seasonal menu) that included Japanes bear for main dish.
Quite a less "bearish" kind of meat compared to what I'd suffered in Northern Sweden.
With the chef's added saltiness, it became better than: rather nice. Even if the coarseness of the meat's fibres is till there, the taste is great. (And dental floss is readily available :-)
Starter kåldolme-scallops extravaganza, followed by Fois Gras Risotto, crab soup oh-la-la, white fish meets two kinds of white truffes: one kind shredded on top and one kind enhancing the butter sauce, bear with condiments, cheese (6 kinds) and mignardises with tea/coffee.
Whou caan aske för moore?
These wines ruled all the dishes.
Especially Numanthia ruled the bear dish.
But the Rioja gambatted with the fish, crab and veggies in a e
Way, most remarcable...
This wine brought Fois Gras to the church and than married it with utter perfection.
Most cheeses were not compatible with the reds, but this beauty made the cheeses sing hymns of love and affection...
We ended the evening with drinks from Champagne. Drappier produces a marc that is drinkable, but Mōet does not. Mōet's marc is terrible. May grow hair on your chest, but might as well make you go blind. Terrible...
Anyways: we stumbled home with extreme happiness :-)
2004 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva 93 Points
Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
Very, very young with purple fruit, tightly shut windows and a FANTASTIC future ahead!
Medium bodied, M++ acids, M+ tannin, refinement and an aroma spectrum and constitution that I (up until now) had reserved for Carignane... Wow! Brittle, yet firm. Acids carrying the dignity of the warm climate. Red and purple fruits in intense excitement... Soft herbs and utter intensity of fruit.
Spices, refined oak treatment and pure fruit that has still to produce sumi-ink, dill, lingonberry jam and cold butter. Very easy to love today, but will only become better.
Has a colour that has clearly taken a step away from traditional Rioja of yore and is looking for a future that still doesn't violate CT-nerds' yerning for terroir etc. If only Beaujolais could be made to taste like this, then, their district's economic problems would be solved :-)
This wine's peak will arrive later, our guess is around 2020.
This wine is a worthy winner of Winespectator's Award.
At fabulous Restaurant Tani, outdoing themselves as always, including Japanese bear meat for the main dish tonight. Yowza!
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2004 Bodega Numanthia Toro Numanthia 94 Points
Spain, Castilla y León, Toro
Just had to have this irresistable wine again. 94 for now, but may very well hit 100 later on in life. My last btl, but will buy as many as I can lay my hairy hands on.
This wine smashes in to your taste buds, like hitting a thick and utterly impenetrable mud-wall. This is condensed like no other Tempranillo. This is unimaginably rich. This is beautiful insanity in a bottle, especially as the immense concentration is natural.
Will evolve for many years to come, as this is not yet showing any signs of maturation.
So, pay no attention to the fruit-musterbeiterz who don't find (or like?) any mature aromas, but still think that a wine from 2004 ought to be mature ;-)
This wine has a very long life ahead, and I'd be darned if it's mature before 2020.
Still have not enjoyed a Thermantia, but becoming rather curious... A step up from this wine means only one thing: utter perfection!
At fabulous Restaurant Tani, outdoing themselves as always, including Japanese bear meat for the main dish tonight. Yowza!
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